Whenever someone tells me they’re making money in XYZ niche, it peaks my interest. There’s something about the allure of a new opportunity, a new stream of income. But it’s not everyday you hear of a great niche from someone.

So in order to satisfy my own sick needs – I spy. We talked about a few ways you could do this in the post “Reverse Engineering Tips.”

If you’re an affiliate, hell, if you’re a product owner advertising online – your advertising methods are 100% transparent. And that’s a good thing/bad thing for everyone. It’s just the way it is.

Spying can be all kinds of fun though. It’s sort of like treasure hunting.

Here’s an example of recent treasure hunting I’ve done.

The Target is The “Geo Modder”

In SEO geo mod rankings can be really profitable. All it consists of is getting ranked for as many locations + your keyword. Do this right and you can bring in a lot of good converting long tail traffic.

But that strategy isn’t just for SEO’s.

This banner was on www.ign.com

I’m in Indiana. So there is definitely state specific targeting going on here. Although the date of birth doesn’t match the age of the dude in the pic – it’s definitely targeting my demographic as far as age goes.

That banner leads to this landing page (sorry – I had to piece it together)

There was more copy than I was expecting to see. It would be helpful to see what they’re split testing but I was unable to do that.

It’s possible they’re getting paid for a zip submit here, but that’s not clear. I tend to think they’re not, but anything is possible.

Here’s what you see when you enter your zip code, daily mileage, and DUI record.

This is the loading screen. I’m sure just about everyone “qualifies.” The take away here is that using a devide like this little loading screen engages people. it’s a smart play. It engages the visitor and prepares them for the next page. And when you see the next page you’ll understand why they want to “prep” people.

Here’s where the magic happens. The lead capture. And wow is it a big one. (Again – sorry it’s pieced together – it’s even missing a middle piece – thing thing was huge)

That is one hell of a lead gen form.

They must have a large abandonment rate on this page. That’s why they’re using the loading screen – to prepare people for this page. They want the visitor to feel as though they’re only a step away from a great insurance deal.

The flip side to a lead gen form like this is that when someone DOES fill out this form, you’ve got a qualified lead on your hands. When you’re in the lead business you’re only as good as the quality of your leads. Lead quality is everything.

So what have we learned about from this affiliate spying activity?

Geo Targeting works with banner traffic (media buying, etc)

Should test longer copy on landing pages (and use geo targeting in headline)

Use an “involvement device” like zip, mileage, dui submission form to “Qualify” leads

“Success” loading screen prepares visitor for the long lead gen form.

Long lead capture pages produce high quality leads

You know what? We just discovered an affiliate business model with just a few clicks and a bit of critical thinking. Who’s going to take this and try it out for themselves?